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Villainy - Inhuman
Throughout the bulk of this article section, the villains discussed have been human, or at least of the common humanoid races on Fontraile. Whilst this makes designing a villain easier, there is still one final category that falls well outside the boundaries of human endeavor. The Inhuman archetype represents those beings with little or even no recognizable human characteristics. Their actions may seem pointless, confusing, and there will be little - if any - positive aspects of human nature in these villains. The Inhuman archetype exists outside the bounds of normal morality, and, as such, does not feel compelled to obey the same rules and mores that bind most creatures. The Inhuman differs from the Human Monster, in this regard, in that the Human Monster revels in such evil, whereas for the Inhuman, it simply either does not understand nor need to understand the concepts of morality or good and evil from a human standpoint. The Inhuman is rarely some beast in a lair, waiting to be slain by some intrepid adventurers looking for treasure. He is a fully realized and proactive villain, with his own goals and motivations - however it just so happens that those motivations are much harder to define. The Inhuman's alien morality can come from any number of sources, be it simple cultural difference or an in-born racial trait in and of itself. A rare subset exists for mental aberrations; in this case an Inhuman villain can, in fact, be human, but completely lacks the moral compass that keeps others on a more-structured path. A third possibility is a simple lack of morality; in this case, certain foes, such as constructs and non-sentient undead, are so detached from mortal existence that they simply have no concern for the consequences of their actions. As an Archetype, the Inhuman villain is extremely hard to fit into a villainous concept. The Archetype is, at once, a paradox, being both extremely limiting and freeing a GM. It is limiting in that it is difficult to establish an emotional impact related to an alien "thing." Because it has no connection to their own world, characters may feel little more than annoyance and anger at this villain if handled poorly. It is freeing, however, in that the GM can create a villain that the protagonists can hunt down and destroy without concerning themselves with their own morality in the process. After all, they are destroying something that has literally no concern for the destruction it causes, or even revels in it. It is even easier to justify destroying the villain if it is not sentient, or if it is a member of a race widely-known to be harmful to mortals (such as fiends). As a simpler villain, the Inhuman quickly becomes a mindless jumble of stats, little different from a random monster or enemy in a dungeon, if handled poorly. In this form, the villain is most likely the pawn of a greater evil that controls and directs its actions. As a more complex villain or even an archvillain, however, the GM must develop more complex and detailed motives and goals justifiable to the Inhuman villain. If the GM can accomplish this, he can create a villain that will fill players with awe, horror, and possibly even a small amount of pity. Facing this villain can, of course, force players to face challenging questions in their own right: Do they have a right to destroy something just because it does not believe the same as they do? Are these villains really villains, or are they simply so alien that they do not know better? Are they even truly evil? The use of the Inhuman archetype also allows for the removal of the mortal guilt of destroying a horrible abomination. A truly devious GM will create scenarios that force players to think like the Inhuman villain in order to stop him, forcing them to think "outside the box." The four subtypes of Inhuman Villain are the Intelligent Monster, Killing Machine, Outsider, and Psychotic. Inhuman Variants * Intelligent Monster * Killing Machine * Outsider * Psychotic Directory Link Back to Archetypes.